Betty Shabazz: A brave widow,loving mother and advocate of the oppressed.

Nonye

Betty "Bahiya" Shabazz was a social activist, a  civil rights advocate, and the wife of slain civil rights activist Malcolm X, like her husband she was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment.

She was born Betty Dean Sanders on May 28, 1936. While her place of birth is uncertain, she was raised in Detroit. Her father Shelmam Sandlin and mother Ollie Mae Sanders were unwed teenagers. They were abusive to Betty, so at the age of 12, she was fostered by African American couple Lorenzo and Helen Mallory.

Her foster parents were business people and activists. Hellen Mallory was a member of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People ( NAACP), she campaigned for boycotts on businesses that refused to hire African Americans.

Despite their activism, they shielded Betty from the harsh reality of racism so when she graduated high school she opted to study education at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

It was in Alabama that Betty saw for the first time blatant racism which depressed her.

In 1953, unable to deal with the insufferable  attitude of racists in Alabama, Betty decided to change city and course.

She moved to New York and, opting to study nursing, enrolled in the Brooklyn State College School Of Nursing in New York City.

Though the racism in New York was no better, it was a lot more bearable than in the South

One Friday evening during her second semester, a colleague invited her to join a dinner party at the Nation of Islam temple in Harlem. Despite enjoying the evening Betty declined to join the Nation of Islam fearing her foster parents, who were Methodists, would disapprove. But she agreed to attend another dinner and it was there she met Malcolm X. The two bonded over their views on racism and the injustice suffered by African Americans.

She continued to attend meetings and in 1956, joined the Nation of Islam adopting the surname X as a symbol of her unknown African name. This change led to a rift with her foster parents although they eventually reconciled.

On January 14, 1958, she and Malcolm X were married in Michigan. They had 6 daughters during their marriage. Betty was a dedicated wife, mother, and worker serving as a health advocate for the Nation of Islam.

On March 8, 1964, Malcolm and Betty X broke away from the Nation of Islam and later that year, after making a pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm changed the X to Shabazz and so did Betty.

In February of the following year, Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a speech and Betty was left to raise their six children. She was aided by royalties received from her late husband's biography and funds raised by The Committee of Concerned Mothers. She made the pilgrimage to Mecca the following month where she received the name Bahiya.

 She went back to school and received a degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. She joined Medge Evers College as an associate professor of health sciences and was later named Director of Institutional Advancement.

She formed friendships with Coretta Scott King and Myrlie Evers Williams the trio campaigned for social justice for African Americans.

Betty was an indefatigable volunteer activist serving on many committees.

In 1995, her daughter Qubilah was accused of trying to hire an assassin to kill Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan whom she accused of killing her father.

In a plea agreement, Qubilah was instructed to undergo treatment for drug and alcohol abuse and her 10-year-old son Malcolm was sent to live with Betty.

 He had a history of mental illness and did not want to live with his grandmother so on June 1, 1997, he doused the apartment in gasoline and set it alight then left the house.

Betty, not realizing it was her grandson who set the fire, and that he was no longer in the house, ran through the flames looking for him. She suffered third-degree burns to 80% of her body and died on June 23, at the age of 63. She was buried next to her husband in New York.

Her love, devotion, and selflessness which were the principles of her life, and led, in part, to her death were remembered by the more than 2000 people who attended her funeral and many others.

Dr. Betty Shabazz Health Center in New York was named in her honor, as the Betty Shabazz International Charter School in Chicago.  Colombia University opened the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in 2005.

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